Tag: crash

  • ‘Searching for mother’s body a nightmare’: Desperate pleas for help after losing family in PIA crash

    ‘Searching for mother’s body a nightmare’: Desperate pleas for help after losing family in PIA crash

    As Fazal Rahman, 80, and his wife, Wahida Rahman, 74, boarded a plane in on Friday, their family’s biggest fear was that they might get catch the coronavirus on their way to spend the holiday in Karachi.

    Instead the couple, who had been married for 54 years, were among the 97 people killed when an Airbus A-320, operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), crashed into a Karachi neighbourhood — country’s worst air disaster since 2012.

    READ: PK8303 — not the first: Timeline of major Pakistani air crashes

    “We held many calls deliberating with doctors and family […] Our biggest concern was that they made the trip safely,” said their son, Inamur Rahman, who instead of welcoming his parents for the Eidul Fitr holidays found himself picking through the wreckage of flight PK-8303 praying for a miracle.

    https://twitter.com/SiddiquiNaveid/status/1265341000987394050

    “I got in my car and followed the smoke and the ambulances,” said Rahman. “When I saw the area, I realised that it would be a miracle if they had made it,” he added.

    “I lost both my parents in this tragic & horrific crash. I submit to Allah’s will. However the ordeal we are suffering at the hands of #PIA is inexcusable. Callous, Insensitive, incompetent…. #PIAPlaneCrash [sic],” tweeted his brother, Adil Rahman.

    There were two survivors from onboard the aircraft, while no fatalities were reported on the ground in the densely packed neighborhood of multi-story homes abutting the eastern edge of Jinnah International Airport where the plane came down.

    More than two dozen homes were damaged as the airliner roared in, leaving a tangle of severed electric cables and exposed rebar — a broken wing rested against the side of a home, an engine on the ground nearby.

    The jet fuel set the wreckage ablaze, along with homes and vehicles, sending black smoke into the sky, a Reuters witness said.

    Crowds rushed to the site, relatives searching for loved ones, rescue workers and the curious. Scores of ambulances and fire-engines jammed the narrow, debris-cluttered streets.

    One rescue worker told Reuters two bodies were found with oxygen masks on. Many bodies pulled from the wreckage were charred beyond recognition.

    Airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik said on Friday the last message from the pilot indicated a technical problem. A team from Airbus is due to arrive to investigate, a PIA spokesperson said.

    SCREAMS AND FIRE:

    Shahid Ahmed, 45, was at the airport waiting for his mother to arrive. When he reached the crash site he saw rescuers retrieving bodies and people taking selfies.

    “There was no one responsible at the site, people were busy posing for pictures,” said a distraught Ahmed, who lost his mother, Dilshad Begum, 75, who was also flying to Karachi for Eid.

    After scouring the site and failing to find his mother, Ahmed went to look for her in hospitals.

    There was no list of the dead or injured at any of the hospitals, it was all chaos and mismanagement,” said Ahmed, who sobbed as he recounted the ordeal.

    “Searching for our mother’s body was a nightmare.”

    READ: ‘Ertuğrul’, Bollywood stars react to PIA crash

    One of the survivors, engineer Muhammad Zubair, told a local media outlet the pilot came down to land, briefly touched down, then pulled up again.

    He announced he was going to make a second try shortly before the plane crashed, Zubair said from the hospital.

    “I could hear screams from all directions. Kids and adults. All I could see was a fire. I couldn’t see any people – just hear their screams,” he said.

    PLEA FOR HELP:

    Meanwhile, Arif Ali Faruqui says his entire world came crashing down just two days before Eid as his wife and three children were also onboard the ill-fated plane.

    In a video message, Faruqui of Lahore asked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to help him in identifying the remains of his family while casting doubt over the handling of the DNA sampling by authorities.

    “If I hadn’t identified my wife or daughter’s bodies, the authorities could have handed over the remains of the wrong people,” says Faruqui in a video message that, according to The Express Tribune, has gone viral.

    He urged PM Imran to take action against the “red tape and bureaucracy” faced by people who lost loved ones in the crash.

    Faruqui says his wife wanted to spend Eid in Karachi with her mother, who has terminal cancer.

    “The decision to send the kids was taken very late as they wanted to see their grandmother,” he told.

    READ: PIA crash survivor recalls what happened

    Sitting outside the emergency ward of Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital in, he broke down while narrating his ordeal.

    “The process for getting death certificates and collecting remains is extremely insensitive and inept,” said Faruqui, who had to identify the charred remains of his family.

    After facing delays in the handing over of remains of identified family members, Faruqui says he is being harassed by police as the burial took place without issuance of death certificate.

    “I was questioned for 90 minutes and the document is still not issued,” he told

    There is also a trust deficit between authorities, he added. “Two separate teams of Sindh and Punjab are conducting DNA tests.” He added that some people had even taking remains from the morgue without confirmation of identity.

  • An inconsolable tragedy

    An inconsolable tragedy

    As we struggle to deal with a global pandemic that has claimed over 1,100 lives in Pakistan alone, an inconsolable tragedy has hit us hard.

    A PIA flight from Lahore to Karachi met a tragic fate yesterday. The ill-fated plane’s landing gear reportedly stopped working and when the pilot pulled it up for another round to try and resolve the issue, both its engines failed. The pilot tried to land again — this time in an area near the Jinnah International Airport, but due to the streets being narrow, it hit a mobile tower and crashed.

    There were 91 passengers on board and eight crew members. Two passengers miraculously survived while the crew and the rest of the passengers did not make it. All bodies have been recovered and are now being identified through DNA samples, which may take some time. An investigation team has been constituted to probe the accident.

    A total of 97 lives have been lost. Both young and old, men and women. Friday’s tragedy of PK8303 crash is something that shook everyone. Messages from around the world poured in — from Canadian PM Justin Trudeau to Indian PM Narendra Modi, world leaders paid their condolences. Our hearts go out to the families, friends and loved ones of those who lost their lives. Eid is usually a happy occasion but with coronavirus and this tragedy, it will be a somber affair in Pakistan this time around.

    Pakistan does not have a good record of investigating plane accidents. We hope that there will be a thorough investigation to determine whether the health of the aircraft was satisfactory as well as its maintenance. Aircraft experts are perturbed that so many issues surfaced at the same time — from landing gear malfunctioning to engines that stopped working.

    Those 97 lives cannot be brought back, but the least the state can do is honour those who lost their lives, by getting to the bottom of what exactly happened.

    We understand that nothing will console the grieving families who lost their loved ones just days before Eid. We cannot even begin to imagine the pain they must be going through. But now it is the state’s responsibility to bring some closure. The Sindh government acted in a responsible manner by not giving out names or numbers of the deceased until they could verify and are still in the process of verifying.

    Regular updates from the Sindh Health Department about the rescue and relief operations were also commendable under the face of such a huge tragedy, but a thorough investigation is needed into the response of the district administration as eyewitnesses allege that most people lost their lives to the fire that broke out and rescue teams failed to deal with at the earliest.

    The media — by and large — also acted in a responsible manner despite some editorial lapses. On the other hand, social media and Whatsapp groups went rife with rumours, some even giving false hope to families.

    Here we must pay tribute to the unsung heroes — those who were at the forefront of the rescue and relief efforts, including the law enforcement agencies and humanitarian organisations like the Edhi Foundation. We cannot thank them enough for working tirelessly.

    Life is unpredictable but nothing prepares anyone for a sudden and tragic loss. We pray for the families of those who died in yesterday’s crash.

  • PIA crash survivor recalls what happened

    PIA crash survivor recalls what happened

    One of the two people to survive a plane crash in Karachi that killed 97 people has described jumping from the burning wreckage of the aircraft after it hurtled into a residential neighborhood.

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on Friday after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, the airline said.

    Its wings sliced through rooftops, sending flames and plumes of smoke into the air as it crashed onto a street, sparking a rescue operation that lasted into the night.

    Commercial flights in the country resumed only days ago, ahead of Eidul Fitr, after planes were grounded during a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

    “After it hit and I regained consciousness, I saw fire everywhere and no one was visible,” Mohammad Zubair, 24, said from his hospital bed in a video clip circulated on social media.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “The cries were everywhere and everybody was trying to survive. I undid my seat belt and I saw some light and tried to walk towards it. Then I jumped out.”

    Zubair had suffered burns but was in a stable condition, a health ministry official said.

    The airline named the other survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab (BoP), Zafar Masud.

    The health ministry for Sindh on Saturday confirmed that the 97 bodies recovered from the crash site had been on the plane.

    At least 19 had been identified so far, while DNA testing was being carried out at the University of Karachi to help name the rest of the victims.

    A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of people killed on the ground.

    The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate Eid, with many traveling to their homes in cities and villages.

    “Eid has become meaningless not only for Karachi but the whole of Pakistan,” said Ziaul Huq Qamar, who lives near the crash site.

    Several members of the armed forces who were flying home to their families to celebrate the holiday were among the dead, the military said.

    Shahbaz Hussain said his mother, who was also among the victims, had been flying back to Karachi after becoming stranded by the lockdown in Lahore while visiting her daughters.

  • A minute before landing, two days before Eid: What we know about PIA’s ill-fated flight PK8303

    A minute before landing, two days before Eid: What we know about PIA’s ill-fated flight PK8303

    In yet another tragic chapter of Pakistan’s aviation history, Karachi-bound flight PK8303 of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Lahore on Friday crashed in a residential area of the port city a bit over a minute away from the airport, and two days before Eid.

    A Google Maps screen grab of the distance from the crash site of PIA’s PK8303 to the airport

    A majority among the 91 passengers of the ill-fated flight — also carrying seven crew members — was of those who were heading back home to celebrate Eid in Karachi, as the government lifted the ban imposed on domestic air travel to curb the spread of COVID-19.

    While a rescue operation is underway and conflicting reports about the number of survivors and fatalities pour in, here’s everything we know so far.

    THE FLIGHT AND THE CRASH:

    The aircraft, which FlightRadar24.com identified as a 15-year-old Airbus A320, took off from the eastern city of Lahore for Karachi.

    “The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem,” the national carrier’s spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said in a video statement. “He was told from the final approach that both the runways were ready where he can land, but the pilot decided that he wanted to do a go-round.”

    Speaking to a foreign media outlet, one senior civil aviation official said it appeared the plane was unable to open its wheels due to a technical fault prior to landing, but it is too early to determine the cause.

    “The plane first hit a mobile tower and then crashed over houses,” a witness Shakeel Ahmed said near the site, just a few kilometres short of the airport — in the Jinnah Garden area of Malir’s Model Colony.

    A video, purportedly showing Fridays crash, is also doing rounds over mainstream and social media.

    CAUSE OF THE CRASH:

    While it still remains too early to determine the cause of the crash, an audio clip of the last conversation between the flight’s pilot and the control tower has been released.

    The pilot sent a Mayday — emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications — and told controllers the aircraft had lost power from both its engines on its second attempt to land.

    After the aircraft reportedly called off an earlier attempt to land and went around for a second attempt, a controller radioed the pilot that he appeared to be turning left, suggesting he was off-course.

    The pilot replied, “We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines,” and the controller cleared the plane to land on either of Karachi airport’s two West-Southwest-facing runways.

    Twelve seconds later the pilot called “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” and was again cleared to use either runway. There was no further communication from the aircraft.

    PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik confirmed that the pilot, in his last words, had said that there was a technical fault with the aircraft. “The pilot was told that both runways were ready for him to land. However, the pilot decided to do a go-around. Why did he do that, due to what technical reason, that we will find out,” he said, before hopping on a plane to Karachi.

    https://twitter.com/HamzaSiddiquiPK/status/1263813137800855552

    While experts say that what actually caused the crash “will only be determined after the black boxes are opened”, it has been learnt that there has been no permanent director general for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the past two years.

    POSSIBLE SURVIVORS AND FATALITIES?

    Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Bank of Punjab (BoP) President and CEO Zafar Masud as well as Urban Unit CEO Khalid Sherdil were also on the ill-fated flight that crashed in Karachi, seats 1C and 1F, respectively.

    According to reports, Masud was shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Malir Cantt, where he is receiving treatment and is said to be out of danger. There was no word on Sherdil by the time this report was filed.

    As per various unconfirmed reports, anywhere between 14 to 40 passengers have survived. Dozens of others, however, are feared dead, which also include locals who are said to be buried under debris of their houses, or lost their lives due to the fire that broke out following the crash.

    A rescue operation is underway and the military has also rushed to the aid of civilian authorities.

    Military’s assistance to speed up relief and rescue efforts in the densely populated area was announced by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

    PRESIDENT, PM REACT TO CRASH:

    As condolences pour in, President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan have offered their condolences to the families of the victims while also praying for the safety and earliest recovery of the survivors.

    The premier has ordered an investigation into the tragedy as well.

    “Shocked and saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi and with the rescue and relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now [sic],” he tweeted, announcing that an immediate inquiry would follow.

  • PIA flight from Lahore crashes in Karachi

    PIA flight from Lahore crashes in Karachi

    A Karachi-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore on Friday crashed a bit over a minute away from the port city’s airport, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sources said.

    The plane that crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony, was reportedly carrying 95 passengers.

    A video available with The Current showed houses located in the locality’s Jinnah Bagh area on fire.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Rescue teams are en route to the site of the crash, a cloud of thick black smoke can be seen over which.

  • Indian Air Force’s MiG-29 fighter jet crashes 117 km from Lahore, in Jalandhar

    Indian Air Force’s MiG-29 fighter jet crashes 117 km from Lahore, in Jalandhar

    A MiG-29 interceptor of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday crashed during a training mission near Punjab’s Jalandhar — 117 kilometres (km) from the provincial capital of Pakistan province of Punjab. The pilot ejected safely and was soon taken away in a rescue helicopter, the IAF said in a statement.

    “The aircraft had developed a technical snag and the pilot ejected safely as he was unable to control the aircraft. The pilot has been rescued by a helicopter. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident,” the IAF said.

    The MiG-29 is a Soviet-era fast interceptor that has seen action in the Kargil war in 1999. It has also been used to escort other jets on bombing missions from incoming “bandits” or enemy fighter jets.

    The IAF operates over 60 MiG-29s, all of which have been upgraded with advanced avionics and better weapons to convert them into multi-role jets that can perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions equally well.

    The Soviet-made jet had taken off from Adampur Air Force Station near Jalandhar which is the second-largest military airbase of India. The No. 47 and No 203 Squadrons of the IAF are stationed at this base. Adampur Base played a crucial role in the Indo-Pak War of 1965 as it is within 100 km from the Indo-Pak border.

    On February 26 last year, another variant of the jet — the MiG-21 fighters were up against much more modern Pakistani jets during aerial skirmishes.

    Indian planes had crossed the line of control and claimed to have bombed what New Dehli described as a terrorist training camp near Balakot. Islamabad had denied the Indian side of the story and provided sufficient evidence to back up its argument.

    A day later, Pakistani F-16s and other planes had crossed the line of control to attack Indian forces, New Delhi claimed. Indian MiG-21s were scrambled to intercept when  Islamabad shot down two MiG-21s of the IAF. An Indian Air Force MiG-21 pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was captured by Pakistani security forces.

    He was later released as what Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had said was a goodwill gesture.

  • Another army training aircraft crash claims two lives

    Another army training aircraft crash claims two lives

    A Pakistan Army aircraft on Monday crashed near Gujrat during a routine training mission, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported.

    According to the military’s media wing, an instructor pilot, Major Umer, and his student Lieutenant Faizan were martyred in the crash.

    “Major Umer, a resident of Gujrat, and Lieutenant Fiazan, a resident of Kalar Kahar, Chakwal, embraced shahadat,” the ISPR statement said.

    Major Umer is survived by a wife, the statement added.

    The ill-fated aircraft was a PAC MFI-17 Mushaq — a license-built fixed-gear basic trainer aircraft used by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force (PAF). An improved version of the Saab Safari, the MFI-17 is manufactured in Kamra by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.

    Earlier this year, a PAF F-16 aircraft had crashed near Shakarparian in Islamabad during rehearsals for the Pakistan Day Parade. Wing Commander Nauman Akram was martyred in the crash.

    Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had paid tribute to the martyr and said, “Laying one’s life is the ultimate sacrifice one can make for defence of the motherland. May his soul rest in peace. My thoughts and sincere prayers for the bereaved family.”

    In April, a PAF aircraft crashed while on a routine operational training mission near Mianwali.

    Both pilots, Squadron Leader Haris bin Khalid and Flying Officer Ibaadur Rehman, aboard the PAF FT-7 aircraft had lost their lives in the crash.

    A board of inquiry had been ordered by the Air Headquarters to determine the cause of the accident that had followed the last trainer plane crash in October 2019 when a Mushaq trainer aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation crash-landed in a paddy field near Wazirabad in Gujranwala district. Both pilots aboard the plane had remained safe.

  • Zia’s son believes ex-army chief played ‘suspicious role’ in father’s death

    Zia’s son believes ex-army chief played ‘suspicious role’ in father’s death

    Muhammad Ijazul Haq, son of former military ruler and the country’s longest-serving head of state Ziaul Haq, has said that ex-army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and former national security advisor (NSA) General Mahmood Ali Durrani had a “suspicious role” to play in his father’s death.

    According to a report in The Hindu, Ijaz has said that as per the evidence he has collected, Indian and Israeli spy agencies were also involved in his father’s plane crash in August 1988.

    “The plane came down due to spraying of nerve gas in the cockpit that maimed pilots,” he said and confirmed to the Indian English daily the presence of explosives in mango crates, besides claiming that a projectile had also hit the plane.

    Talking to The Hindu, Ijaz said he believed that Generals Beg and Durrani were somehow involved because “some of the doctors who were working in CMH Multan informed Zia’s family probably a month or two after the incident that they received orders from higher-ups to no do the autopsy of the body parts that were found after the crash.

    “Later on, some of them told us that they were transferred from Multan to far-flung places, which was obviously done to cover it up. When the autopsies were done on Brigadier General Herbert M Wassom, who was the United States (US) military attache, then why not the Pakistanis? I asked Gen Beg directly and indirectly but he never responded. The orders to transfer the doctors to far-flung places didn’t come from their immediate bosses; only the GHQ could have done it.”

    ZIA’S DEATH:

    Zia died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. After witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the small town by C-130B Hercules aircraft. The aircraft departed from Bahawalpur Airport and was expected to reach Islamabad International Airport. Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft.

    Witnesses who saw the plane in the air, afterwards claimed it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the plane crash, including then chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Gen Akhtar Abdur Rahman, close associate of Zia, Brigadier Siddique Salik, the American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel and General Herbert M Wassom, the head of the US Military aid mission to Pakistan.

    Conditions surrounding his death have given rise to many conspiracy theories. There is speculation that the US, India, the Soviet Union (in retaliation for Pakistani support of the mujahideen in Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups within Zia’s military were behind the incident.

    A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded that “the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the aircraft”.

  • WATCH: Video shows Pakistan Army aircraft crashing in Rawalpindi

    WATCH: Video shows Pakistan Army aircraft crashing in Rawalpindi

    Moments after at least 17 people, including five military personnel, lost their lives when a plane of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Mora Kalu in Rawalpindi, a video of the tragic incident has surfaced.

    According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the aircraft was on a routine training flight when it crashed around 2 am, but there was no immediate word on the cause of the accident or the type of aircraft involved.

    Two pilots were among those killed in the incident, the military’s media wing said, adding that it also resulted in 12 fatal civilian casualties and injuries to 13 others.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Lt Col Saqib, Lt Col Wasim, Naib Subedar Afzal, Hawaldar Amin and Hawaldar Rahmat were the military personnel who lost their lives.

    Soon after the crash, a massive fire broke out that engulfed several houses in the locality.

    Rescue teams of 1122 and Pakistan Army immediately reached the site and started the rescue operation. 

    ISPR added, rescue officials had extinguished the fire caused by the crash and moved the injured to a local hospital.